How To Create a Technology Strategy for Your Real Estate Practice

This week, we’re joined again by Lee Adkins, who has some great tips for your firm when looking to adopt new technology into your day-to-day business.

Technology is a necessary evil in Real Estate. Love it or hate it, you have to use it and you will have to deal with continuously changing technology and platforms and apps. There are really only two choices here; Embrace the ever-changing world we live in or be left behind. This doesn’t mean you have to jump on every new app or program that comes out – but you do need to have a strategy to help you decide every time you hear about the latest and greatest, shiny new thing.

We’ve found that most successful agents, teams and brokerages have a basic “policy” on adopting new software. Tips for this are to set parameters like; budget (overall marketing or tech budget), annual goals, ease of use for clients/staff/agents, does it work with existing tools (or does that matter?), etc. More and more, certain apps integrate with others too – so explore if the best CRM connects to the best email distribution program for you. Many of these products have free trials or freemium models (where a certain number of users or contacts are free, but become paid as you use them or add users.)

How to decide what to explore and what not to explore:There are many sites that provide user reviews and “apples to apples” comparisons of software – sites like Capterra and Agent Armory to name a few. Spending more time upfront figuring what you need and what specific tools you’re looking at do, can save you tons of time each week moving forward. A best practice we recommend is setting a future time (3-6 months) to evaluate the tech you’re using.

How to develop a business strategy that helps you make high-level decisions on where to spend your time:Don’t believe what everyone else says on social – and decide on a time frame for an evaluation of what you’re doing. If you have a clear plan for where your business is headed, you’ll know what components you need to get there. If a certain lead source or software does not contribute to that goal, don’t try it. It’s always funny when people make blanket statements like “software xyz doubled my business last year.” Don’t fall into that trap – your business model is probably completely different from theirs – just because someone (whose affiliation with the company may be unknown to you) says “you” need it doesn’t mean that you do. Stick to your plan. Shiny objects, beware!

Pick one thing that is the “brain” of your business (typically a CRM) and USE IT:In a people-centric business, often a CRM (Contact Relationship Manager) is the key software piece that you need. Learn to evaluate how the tools you use work together, using the key software piece as the measure. It is not generally a good plan to have 20 logins that don’t “talk” to each other. We’ve had success with our clients on using a specific CRM as the main tool. If lead sources or software won’t work alongside that, we don’t even talk to them. Often it’s a function of learning what NOT to do over exploring all the things you COULD do.

Consider the other Players:If you have a team or a brokerage, be sure it’s something you can easily train (or that offers support that trains) your agents to use it properly. Many of our clients will test new ideas or platforms with their more seasoned agents before rolling out company-wide. Or maybe test with the newer, more tech savvy agents and see if they like it. People will be honored to be asked for their feedback in the decision process – it’s great team building and you’ll get buy-in from part of the group before rolling it out. You might even be able to have one of those younger agents pair up with the seasoned agents on implementation.

Bottom line is, explore, test, adopt but don’t leap from tool to tool letting it define your business. Embrace the change, but have a simple plan to follow to help you decide which tools make sense for you.

Lee and his team are proud to present the Best Conference Ever on August 22 – an event in Atlanta focused on technology and real estate – but also making it attainable and accessible to all in the business and helping our industry run a better, more efficient and effective business. Come see Managing Director for CRT Chad Curry’s session: “Under All is The Land: Emerging Technologies & Their Impact on Real Estate.” The Best Conference Ever is brought to you by the following individuals, and takes place at the Atlanta Tech Village.David Lightburn – co-founder of Atlanta Tech Village, Clickscape, Village Realty www.vratl.comMaura Neill – Team Owner, National Speaker, NAR course writer, www.buysellliveatlanta.comLee Adkins – Consultant for teams and brokerages, www.PoweringRealEstate.com

Lee Adkins is the Founder of Amplified Solutions – a consulting company focused on operational excellence for real estate teams and brokerages. He has served in many leadership and committee roles at the State and Local Associations and is currently a Vice President at the Atlanta REALTORS® Association. He frequently teaches and speaks at various conferences around the country. Visit www.PoweringRealEstate.com to learn more or find free resources, tools and suggested reading list.